Hard times....

I must be missing something. For the economy to recover and grow, it needs people to buy stuff…consume goods, products and services. All businesses are feeling the crunch. So what do they do? Lay workers off. So is someone who just got canned going to spend money? No they will tighten up and spend less, which is the complete opposite of what the economy needs right now. WTF! We are in a vicious circle and business is not helping. This past week my company laid off a bout twelve people statewide, not a lot but in some stores that was three to five people. These are highly trained people who the company has invested countless hours training. Now we have to do more work with less talent in the stores….WTF! My store lost Dominika a very bright, capable part time employee who wanted/ needed a full time position. Then this week my company spent hundreds of thousands of dollars for its annual national sales meeting. Flying thousands of mgrs, paying for hotels, transport and of course, guest speakers. Now granted they had already budgeted for the meeting, but how could you do that after cutting people’s jobs. It isn’t fair; it’s stupid and very counterproductive. There are times business does not make any sense to me.

Thoughts

Why are we here? I mean out of the known universe the only life to be found is here, a seemingly rare commodity. A gift, some say. We are alone as far as anyone can tell or prove. So I ask you what do we do? Spend too much time struggling to survive by doing things that really don’t mean shit in the long run. We work, play, love and die to what end? So we could be a passing flicker of light out a passing car window? For the majority of us in a few years what will be left of us but dusty records in some outdated data base or hopefully a fond memory in our friends and families minds. I don’t know, I’d always hoped being a adult was more than what’s currently happening, I don’t know what I expected but this doesn’t seem like it. Maybe it was and has always been like this. Maybe this is exactly how it all supposes to be and it is working out according to some grand unseen plan. Maybe I’m just talking shit. I don’t know anymore. That’s the problem with being the smartest animal on the planet we think too much, you don’t see other animals thinking about their place in the sun. They just do what they need to and drive on until their end comes. Maybe being the smartest animal on the planet isn’t the best thing.

Wheelin again (the sequal)

We (the club) finally got to do some wheeling this past Sunday, it was planned to be a full fun day, wheeling and then go enter a car show. WTF! So we met and had a new member (prospect) show up with his 1987(?) Suzuki Jeep all redone resto with huge mudders. It was a bad ass bitch, he only got stuck once. The rest of our small club soon showed, one full sized Bronco, a 4runner (with SFA), a Jeep, a Montero, and my Blazer. I think our club has a good mix of vehicles. Once assembled we hit the spot hard, tearing thru some nasty mud holes. We were going well until the Bronco over heated… something about the half fan shroud. Fortunately he had a complete one with him so after a little rework we had him back up and running. My Blazer worked fine (still wish I had fuel injectors) the only ongoing problem was the fracking tailgate. It would not stay closed; the remaining factory lock hasp gave out from the pounding. I had to tie it closed. I will now go back to and weld the entire gate closed, I’m tired of trying to get it to work right (especially with the bent tail pan). It was a good outing we even managed to get two trucks stuck at once, the Bronco and the 4runner, matter of fact everyone got stuck eventually except the Suzuki. So after getting all dirty we rolled out and drove down to the car show. It was pretty funny rolling out dirty banged up trucks into the car show full of classic and fast& furious wannabees. Some of their paint jobs cost more than all of our rigs put together. The show was pretty cool; the crowd was very welcoming to us even though many thought we were crazy for treating our vehicles that way. Overall it was a good experience and the best time I’ve had wheeling.

Damage report: My K5 now needs a new tire (it maybe possible to save the blown tire) and a tailgate fix. (Not too bad)

Wheelin FUN!

Sunday started out with me clear of most commitments, and me with a plan to work on the Blazer. I've been planning and building a off road bumper and tire carrier for my truck. For those who don't know a tire carrier that can hold a 35" tire is expensive and there isn't one available for my K5 Blazer. So I had already ordered the steel and built the bumper, now I only had to remove the old one and mount the new. So of course after struggling withe the rusted bolts I wasted 2 hours removing the bumper. Thirty seconds after removing the bumper Bob calls to tell me that there's a ride today... NOW! Fracking great! Somehow I cleaned up quick and drove the truck over to met Bob and the 4x4 club. After two years of building, restoring and banging my head against it the K5 Blazer was finally going off road! Two long years....

It was a blast, 3 hours of riding thru mud, and standing water, out with nature tearing up the country. When I got in the first thing I see is a late model Bronco sunk up to the doors in a water/mud hole. The group was trying to tow the truck out, unfortunately the driver kept flooring the Bronco while he was being towed. As a result the Bronco slid sideways at a high rate of speed and nearly flipped over. WOW! the driver Dan would have been underwater and in a bad way. As it turns out this would be the scariest moment of the day. We were soon of and riding thru the mud and water of the great state of NJ. My truck surprised me it it held it's own against the other trucks, it stalled alot (carbs do that) but it never got stuck enough that I had to get towed out. I pushed her hard and she proved to be worth all the headaches I've had dealing with her. I even managed to get her airborne a couple of times. I cannot wait to go back out!

Spook'ems one year later....

One year ago today my family lost our beloved Spook'ems, our feline friend. In that time we have gone on and continued to live our lives as best as we could. We have not tried to replace him, I don't think anyone is really ready for that. We continued to talk about him and enjoy the time we had with him. The lost is still there and so is the love. I've had five cats in my life, never a dog( I don't know why) all of them are dead now, buried in two backyards, thought about as family members. I miss having a pet but I don't think I want to commit to another small friend for some time. Maybe someday, just not right now.

Livin...

As the new month begins I find myself teetering on the brink of financial disaster. Trying to cover bills, unexpected expenses, and still attempt to save money has my head spinning. Every time I think I’m getting a handle on something unexpected pops up or a ton of bills come in. There are the usually hick ups, but damn everything BUT my salary is going up. Tolls, fares, penalties. There are days I don’t know if I can swing it. I already know once I move I will have to get a second job. My main job pays well, but I’m trying to get out of Credit card debit and car payments. I have to admit since I’ve been doing online banking it’s been a hell of a lot easier. I’m more on top of my finances. But it still seems like a struggle. There is overdue maintenance I have to do to my daily driver, but I can’t afford it right now. I was hoping to save and pay off some X-mas bills, but that hasn’t happened. I know it could always be worst, but I would like it to be just a little bit easier.

Amazing Saturn...

On the north pole of our 6Th planet Saturn is one the universe's most unique features, a massive formation appearing like a hexagon. It was discovered a 2004/2005 but I only found out about it last night while watching the Universe on cable. I am amazed at this beautiful display and am humbled by it. There are times when we get so wrapped up in our own shit that we miss beauty on display. I thought I would share it with you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Rotatingsaturnhexagon.gif